Star Trek Into Darkness
Star Trek Into Darkness is a 2013 American science fiction action filmdirected by J.J. Abrams and written by Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman and Damon Lindelof. It is the 12th installment in the Star Trek film franchise and sequel to the 2009 film Star Trek. The film features Chris Pine reprising his role as Captain James T. Kirk, with Zachary Quinto, Simon Pegg, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, Bruce Greenwood and Leonard Nimoy reprising their roles from the previous film. Benedict Cumberbatch, Peter Weller and Alice Eve are also credited in the film's principal cast. The film was the last time Nimoy would portray the character of Spock, and his final film appearance before his death in 2015. Set in the 23rd century, Kirk and the crew of the USS Enterprise are sent to the Klingon homeworld seeking former Starfleet member-turned-terrorist John Harrison. After the release of Star Trek, Abrams, Burk, Lindelof, Kurtzman and Orci agreed to produce its sequel. Filming began in January 2012. Into Darkness's visual effects were primarily created by Industrial Light & Magic. The film was converted to 3D in post-production. Star Trek Into Darkness''premiered at Event Cinemas in Sydney, Australia, on April 23, 2013,5 and was released on May 9 in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Europe and Peru,6 with other countries following. The film was released on May 16 in the United States and Canada, opening at IMAX cinemas a day earlier.78 ''Into Darkness was a financial success and garnered positive reviews, but was received more controversially and critically among Star Trek fans. Its gross earnings of over $467 million worldwide made it the highest-grossing entry in the Star Trek franchise. A sequel, Star Trek Beyond, is scheduled to be released on July 22, 2016. Plot One year after Kirk's promotion in 2259, the starship USS Enterprise studies a primitive culture on the planet Nibiru. Captain James T. Kirk and his First Officer, Commander Spock, save the planet's inhabitants from an extinction-threatening volcanic eruption, but Kirk violates the Prime Directive, exposing the Enterprise to the native inhabitants to save Spock's life. Returning to Earth, Kirk loses command of the Enterprise and Admiral Christopher Pike is reinstated as its commanding officer with Kirk demoted to first officer and the rank of Commander. For his part in the incident, Spock is reassigned to another ship. An officers' meeting is called to discuss the bombing of a Section 31 installation in London perpetrated by the renegade Starfleet operative John Harrison (Cumberbatch). Harrison attacks the meeting in a jumpship, killing Pike. Kirk disables the jumpship, but Harrison uses a portable transporter to escape to Kronos, the homeworld of hostile aliens known as Klingons. Admiral Alexander Marcus (Weller) returns the command of the ship to Kirk, promoting him again to the rank of Captain, and orders the Enterprise to kill Harrison, arming it with 72 prototype photon torpedoes, shielded and untraceable to Klingon sensors. Angry at the untested and experimental weapons being placed on board the ship, Montgomery Scott resigns his commission during an argument with Kirk and returns to Earth. Chekov is assigned to take his place. En route to Kronos, the Enterprise suffers an unexpected coolant leak, disabling the ship's warp capabilities. Kirk leads a team with Spock and Uhura onto the planet, where they are ambushed by Klingon patrols. Harrison dispatches the Klingons, then surrenders after learning of the number of torpedoes locked on his location. Dr. Leonard McCoy and Marcus's daughter Carol Marcus (Eve) open a torpedo at Harrison's behest, revealing a man in cryogenic stasis inside. Harrison reveals his own true identity as Khan, a genetically engineered superhuman awakened by Admiral Marcus from a 300-year suspended animation to develop advanced weapons for war against the Klingon Empire. Khan reveals that Marcus had sabotaged the Enterprise's warp drive, intending for the Klingons to destroy the ship after it fired on Kronos, giving him an apparent moral justification to go to war with the Klingon Empire. Khan also reveals coordinates for a new weapon being built near Jupiter. Kirk contacts Scotty and admits that Scotty's instincts were right about the torpedoes and asks him to check out the information Khan provided. The Enterprise is intercepted by a larger Federation warship, the USS Vengance, commanded by Marcus. Marcus demands that Kirk deliver Khan, but the Enterprise, with a hastily repaired warp drive, flees to Earth to expose Marcus. After the Vengeance intercepts and disables his ship, Kirk reveals Carol's presence aboard the Enterprise. After Marcus forcibly transports Carol to the Vengeance and orders the Enterprise's destruction, Kirk offers Khan for the lives of his crew. Marcus rejects Kirk's offer and orders Vengeance to fire when ready. But Vengeance suddenly loses power, having been sabotaged by Scotty, who infiltrated the ship after following the coordinates relayed by Khan through Kirk. With transporters down, Kirk and Khan, with the latter's knowledge of the warship's design, space-jump to the Vengeance. Spock contacts his older self, who warns him that Khan is ruthless and untrustworthy, and that in another reality, Khan was only defeated at a terrible cost. Meanwhile, after capturing the bridge, Khan overpowers Kirk, Scott and Carol, kills Marcus and seizes control of the Vengeance. Khan demands that Spock return his crew in exchange for the Enterprise officers. Spock complies but surreptitiously removes Khan's frozen crew and arms the warheads. Khan beams Kirk, Scott and Carol back aboard the Enterprise, but then betrays their agreement by critically damaging the Enterprise; however, the Vengeance is disabled when the torpedoes detonate. With both starships caught in Earth's gravity, they plummet toward the surface. Kirk enters the radioactive reactor chamber to realign the warp core, saving the ship, but at the cost of his own life. Khan crashes the Vengeance into downtown San Francisco in an attempt to destroy Starfleet headquarters as revenge against his former masters. Khan survives the crash and jumps out of the bridge as Spock transports down in pursuit. McCoy discovers that Khan's blood has regenerative properties that may save Kirk. With Uhura's help, Spock subdues Khan, who is consequently arrested and re-frozen, and Kirk is revived. Nearly one year later, Kirk speaks at the rededication ceremony of the Enterprise and recalls the sacrifices made by the victims of Marcus's machinations where he recites the "where no man has gone before" monologue. Khan is sealed in his cryogenic pod and stored with his compatriots while Carol joins the crew of a recommissioned Enterprise as it departs on a five-year exploratory mission. Cast * Chris Pine as Captain James T. Kirk, commanding officer and temporary first officer of the starship Enterprise * Zachary Quinto as Commander Spock, first officer and science officer * Benedict Cumberbatch as John Harrison, a genetically engineered superhuman during the Eugenics Wars * Simon Pegg as Lieutenant Commander Montgomery "Scotty" Scott, second officer and chief engineer * Karl Urban as Lieutenant Commander Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy, chief medical officer * Zoe Saldana as Lieutenant Nyota Uhura, communications officer * Alice Eve as Lieutenant Dr. Carol Marcus,9 a science officer who uses the pseudonym of "Carol Wallace" to board the Enterprise * John Cho as Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu, third officer and helmsman * Peter Weller as Fleet Admiral Alexander Marcus, Carol's father and commander-in-chief of Starfleet * Anton Yelchin as Ensign Pavel Chekov, navigator and Scott's temporary replacement as chief engineer * Bruce Greenwood as Admiral Christopher Pike, Kirk's mentor and predecessor as captain of the Enterprise10 Supporting cast and cameos * Leonard Nimoy as Spock Prime, the original incarnation of Spock.11 This was Nimoy's final film appearance and portrayal of Spock before his death in 2015. * Noel Clarke as Thomas Harewood, a Starfleet officer working in Section 31, who is extorted by Khan into bombing the facility * Nazneen Contractor as Rima Harewood, Thomas's wife * Christopher Doohan (son of James Doohan) as Transporter officer * Amanda Foreman as Ensign Brackett * Jay Scully as Lieutenant Chapin * Jonathan Dixon as Ensign Froman * Aisha Hinds as Navigation Officer Darwin * Joseph Gatt as Science Officer 0718 * Bill Hader as the computer of the USS Vengeance (voice) * Deep Roy as Keenser * Sean Blakemore as a Klingon * Anjini Taneja Azhar as Lucille Harewood, Thomas's terminally ill daughter12 * Nolan North as a Vengeance helmsman13 * Heather Langenkamp1415 as Moto * Chris Hemsworth and Jennifer Morrison as George Kirk, Sr. and Winona Kirk (voices)